Speaker A
What we wear can be a form of self-expression. I bet you knew that, but how much do your clothes reveal about you? A recent study finds that wearing formal clothing can actually enhance your ability to think abstractly. Heidi
Wearing formal clothes boosts abstract thinking, creativity, and confidence by influencing our psychology and decision-making.
Key Takeaways
- Formal clothing can improve abstract thinking and creativity by boosting feelings of power.
- The psychological effects of clothing depend on the meaning we assign to it.
- Reducing daily clothing decisions saves mental energy for more important cognitive tasks.
- Colors in clothing affect both wearer and observer, influencing emotions and social dynamics.
- Comfort in clothing is essential for maintaining positive psychological effects.
Summary
- Wearing formal clothing enhances abstract thinking and creativity by making people feel more powerful, often unconsciously.
- Formal attire helps individuals see the big picture and improves problem-solving abilities.
- The meaning we associate with clothing affects our cognitive performance, as shown in studies with white doctor's coats versus painter's smocks.
- Simplifying clothing choices, like having a work uniform, reduces decision fatigue and conserves mental energy for important tasks.
- Colors in clothing influence emotions and perceptions; for example, black conveys power and aggression, red signals attractiveness and competitiveness.
- Comfort in clothing is important as discomfort negatively affects psychological state.
- Casual dress codes like casual Fridays may reduce creativity and insightful thinking at work.
- Famous figures like Steve Jobs and President Obama use limited wardrobe choices to streamline decision-making.
- Red shoes are perceived as fabulous and attention-grabbing according to research.
- The psychological impact of clothing depends largely on what individuals believe their clothes represent.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to clothing as self-expression and abstract thinking
- 00:23Defining formal clothing vs casual wear
- 00:47How formal clothing enhances abstract thinking and creativity
- 01:11Impact of wearing a white doctor's coat on attention to detail
- 01:33Study findings on clothing meaning and cognitive performance
- 01:55Simplifying wardrobe choices to reduce decision fatigue
- 02:18The role of clothing color on emotions and perceptions
- 03:03Social and psychological effects of red and black clothing
- 03:36Comfort and unconventional clothing choices
- 04:04Conclusion: Clothing's impact on psychology and behavior
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Grant Halverson is a social psychologist and the author of No One Understands You and What to Do About It. Heidi joins us once again at the table. So, Heidi, I think this is such a fun topic. You've come up
Speaker A
with some really interesting things. When you say formal clothing, you're not talking about tux and gowns, you're talking about business attire like what we're wearing. Absolutely, compared to down Friday, exactly, compared to the sort of like jeans and t-shirt wear. So what's
Speaker A
the relationship? How does it affect us? It's really interesting. What the studies seem to show is that when people wear more formal clothing, they actually feel more powerful. They actually look more powerful to other people, but they feel that largely
Speaker A
unconsciously, and it actually causes their brains to be in a state where they'll think more abstractly. And what that means is they'll sort of see the big picture, they'll be more creative, they're a little bit better at problem
Speaker A
solving. So for a lot of the kinds of work that some people do, the idea of a casual Friday means maybe giving up some of the creativity and insightful thinking that you might otherwise be doing on that Friday. Another
Speaker A
interesting part of the study too was the impact of wearing a white doctor's coat. What did they find? So again, it shows that the way that clothing affects us has everything to do with what we feel that clothing means. In
Speaker A
that study, which was done at Columbia by a colleague of mine, Adam Galinsky, he had people wear white coats and told them either that was a doctor's coat or that it was a painter's smock, and he
Speaker A
found that when he gave them a chance to perform a task where they had to really notice the tiny details and differences in things, people who were told they were wearing a doctor's coat performed much better because we
Speaker A
associate critical thinking and attention to detail with being a doctor, but not necessarily with being a painter. So it's all about what you think your clothing means. That's how it affects you. So Steve Jobs had a work uniform, which
Speaker A
was the black sweater, right? And then we know entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who is the youngest billionaire in the world, also has this work outfit, same thing almost every day. Is that a good idea? I think it really can be. What we do
Speaker A
know is that decision-making in general, like deciding what to wear or deciding what to eat, it really is costly. It's a kind of the part of the brain that engages in decision making is sort of an
Speaker A
energy hog, and it makes you really tired. So whatever you can cut down on the decisions you make, whether it's in what you're eating or what you're wearing, you're saving that energy for more important decisions. President Obama told
Speaker A
Michael Lewis in a famous article that he had limited the choices he had to make in clothes by wearing essentially the same suit, same white shirt, same kind of tie. And when you decide, make decisions all day, it really is important to think
Speaker A
about how you can simplify. It doesn't mean you have to be Steve Jobs and wear exactly the same outfit every single day, but how can you cut down on the choices? What about the color of the clothing that you wear? The color of the clothing
Speaker A
affects you as well. Fluorescent chartreuse, I mean, well, it certainly evokes happiness, right? You feel happy wearing it. Colors do have a strong effect on other people, and they have a strong effect on us. It doesn't
Speaker A
mean a hunger for attention. Not necessarily. It is true though that wearing—you're lucky she's not wearing black right now, Charlie, because black actually wearing black makes people feel a little bit more powerful and aggressive. There's actually—and red
Speaker A
means something too. And red means—Is there competition between women? You said yes. Red actually, red because we associate it with sexuality and also power, makes women more attractive, but also can make women more competitive with women who
Speaker A
wear red. What do red shoes mean? They're just fabulous. That's what the research says. They're fantastic. Means needy? What about Charlie wearing tennis shoes? Tennis shoes with your—well, I mean most of the
Speaker A
time people can't see them, so it doesn't really mean anything. Not about to do what she did either to you. It probably makes you feel more comfortable, right? Absolutely. It's not a fashion statement, but I like the fact that it's
Speaker A
untraditional. Yeah, discomfort in clothing is always a bad thing. So it really is fascinating. I do, I do think that clothing can, as you say, it can affect your psychology. Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it. I get what you're saying.
Speaker A
Thank you, Heidi.
Topics:formal clothingpsychology of clothingabstract thinkingcreativitydecision fatiguecolor psychologyself-expressionpower dressingwork attiremental energy
